Battle of the Ages
by Jeffthemaicalpegacorn
Summary: A huge battle comes upon Alfea, resulting in a tragic end for someone. Rated T for blood, and lots of it. Character death, sorry! Also, takes place, um... let's say after season six, shall we?


**Yo! Wazzup? So, I was in a weird mood when I wrote this. Before I was in this mood, I was thinking on the fact that there were no Palladium death stories, or at least none that I'VE seen. So, um, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (And if it is your birthday, then happy, happy birthday!) CONTEST! See bottom for details. **

It was peaceful, so peaceful. The deep breath before the plunge. The  
eye of the storm.

The teachers of Alfea knew a great battle was coming. They had alerted  
their best students, the Winx, so they would be in the know, and so  
they could prepare.

They all sat outside, not saying a word, just sometimes anxiously  
looking up at the sky.

It was lunchtime, so all the students were out, socializing and eating.

Suddenly the sky darkened, and warriors rained down from aircrafts  
hidden above the thick, black clouds.

Students screamed. The Winx ran to their teachers, who were ready.  
Faragonda had a wand in hand, Griselda was wielding nothing, though  
her finger glowed a light blue. WizGiz had transmogrified into an  
elephant, ready to squash. DuFour and Avalon both held swords, and  
Palladium stood in a perfect archer's stance, bow at the ready.

The battle began almost instantly. The students quickly transformed  
into their fairy form and shot spells at the warriors, taking out many.

The battle raged on for hours, until only a dozen enemies were left  
standing, most wielding swords, thought some held bows with expert  
handling.

An aircraft floated down from the sky, and a rope dropped down from  
the door. The dark warriors quickly climbed it, not wanting to end up  
like their motionless soldiers.

Though as the last archer climbed in, he shot one last arrow.

The teachers turned around abruptly as they heard an agonized scream  
come from Palladium as he fell to his knees, arrow embedded deep in  
his stomach.

Faragonda gasped, and quickly picked up her injured colleague, who was  
loudly moaning in pain. Blood poured from the wound, and the  
headmistress picked up her pace, teachers and students following  
quickly behind her.

Once she reached the infirmary, she laid the pale and gasping elf  
gently on a bed, and called for the nurse frantically.

Ophelia burst through the doors, and gasped at the sight of Palladium.

"Quickly, out of my way!" She screamed.

Students quickly filed out, but watched anxiously from Tecna's laptop,  
worried sick about their professor.

Only the teachers and the Winx were allowed to stay in the room, where  
they watched nervously as the nurse looked at the heavily bleeding  
wound on the elf.

She motioned for Faragonda and Bloom to hold him down, and they did.  
With one swift movement, she yanked the arrow out of her colleague,  
who yelled something incomprehensible.

As she watched the blood flow out of the wound, she looked up at the  
headmistress and sadly shook her head.

Everyone began to weep, knowing that Ophelia meant that their Nature  
Professor was not going to make it.

Faragonda rushed up to his bedside, which she now knew was his  
deathbed. She grabbed his slender hand and held it to her cheek, her  
tears wetting it and washing away some of the blood.

"F-Faragonda?" The elf croaked. She looked down at her friend, who was  
smiling at her slightly, despite his pain.

"Yes, my friend?" She asked.

"Try not- to miss me- too much." He joked. "I know- that will be- very  
hard."

Faragonda smiled at the dying elf, tears now flowing down her cheeks.

"Take care- of this school. I know- you will." Palladium said. Then  
his hand went limp, his eyes darkened, and he took his final breath,  
before his spirit fled his body.

Griselda laid a comforting hand on the headmistress' arm as she laid  
her head on Palladium's chest and wept. The room was silent.

The next day a funeral was held for the Professor. All the schools  
were invited, and all attended, for Palladium had befriended all of  
the teachers at the schools, even Cloud Tower. It might have been the  
first time anyone ever saw Griffin cry.

Faragonda, dressed in black, slowly made her way up to the podium.

"We are all gathered here to honor Professor Avery Palladium. He died  
as he lived, smiling, happy, and ready to defend this school. He was a  
dear friend of mine, and I suspect everyone he met. His joyfulness  
will be missed greatly." She sadly concluded, then watched as Avalon  
carried Palladium's limp body to his grave, where he gently laid him  
down, then covered his body with flowers.

They were magical flowers, ones that would never wither. As with all  
the elves, Palladium was deeply fond of nature, and it was only right  
to have his final resting place filled with his favorite part of nature.

The students all put a flower or a whole bouquet onto the professor's  
deceased, motionless form.

Flora slowly willed flowers to cover her favorite teacher's body, and  
she looked upon his fair face one last time, before a large rose  
covered it from view.

That night, the trees had their turn to grieve for the elf, for he had  
visited the forest countless times, talking to the trees as he walked  
along, sometimes singing in the fair voice that all elves had.

And as the Winx surveyed Palladium's grave, which was deep in the  
forest, they wept with the trees, praying silently that this was just  
a horrible nightmare. But they all knew it wasn't.

**Okay, hope you liked it, R&R, that stuff. And am I forgetting something? Nope, just the contest. So, I had this contest in my story, Flick Foot, but I wanted to open it up to more people. So, it's the guess-my-actual-name contest. My name is Scottish, and it means 'one's own meadow'. PM me with what you think it is, or you can put it in your review. But if you PM me please, please PLEASE tell me one thing (at least!) that you liked or didn't like. So, the first one to guess correctly gets a special shout out in my story, an appearance in a story of their choice, and gets to choose what I will write about next! So, get your guessing on! :D**


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